Sting Factor: Caleb Tannor from Georgia

Every time a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local, regional and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.

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Georgia’s recruiting class took a hit earlier this week when four-star linebacker commit Caleb Tannor backed off his pledge to the school. Tannor had been committed for a while but as Georgia’s season has taken off on the field, spots in the 2018 class are becoming tight and Tannor may have become a casualty of the numbers game. Regardless, he’s still a four-star prospect who is coveted by many schools, so the subtraction of Tannor from the class is still notable.

We ask our experts to weigh in on just how much losing him stings and also take a look at which schools might benefit going forward.

MORE: Rivals250 | UGA's 2018 commits | Team Rankings

“While this may not have been the most unexpected of departures from the class of 2018, I do think Tannor was a player the Bulldogs wanted in this class and felt could play a role. Personally, I saw him as a potential successor to D'Andre Walker, both in body type and skill, though he's much rawer than Walker at this stage in his career. Still, if there was an area the Bulldogs could afford to lose a commit at, the outside linebacker spot would be it. Walter Grant has been a freshman surprise at the spot, Robert Beal is still expected to deliver on his upside moving forward, and Azeez Ojulari and Adam Anderson in 2018 may be one of the best combos at the position. Factor in that Georgia is still in the hunt for KJ Henry, and it continues to lessen the burn. My sting factor reflects both Georgia's want and also the lack of dire need."

Sting Factor: 3

“This was not a shock to Georgia, so this one doesn't sting like some of the other de-commitments that have taken place recently. The two sides had been in discussion for some time and things just did not work out, so they went their separate ways. Tannor had a great senior season and Georgia loved his versatility, but there were some other questions that led to this break-up. Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have a lot of tough decisions to make with the numbers being so tight in this recruiting class and this was one of the first.” – Simmons

Sting Factor: 4

“From a skill factor I’ll give this a six because I like the way this kid plays. I know this was a mutual break-up of sorts or more one-sided toward Georgia cutting ties, which is why I have it so low, but he’s still a terrific player and it stings a bit to have to part ways. But the way Georgia is recruiting, it won’t have a problem luring linebackers in the future so it’s not a huge deal.” – Farrell

Sting Factor: 6

Tannor has been relatively quiet since announcing his decommitment but that won’t likely be the case for long, as several other programs that showed heavy interest over the summer are likely to get back in the picture.

Tannor chose the Bulldogs over Auburn and after watching the Tigers dominate in the teams' matchup this past weekend, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him give Auburn strong consideration going forward.

Georgia could replace Tannor in the class with another linebacker but with several highly-ranked prospects at a variety of positions, expect the school to continue to be selective.